Aquarium Newb takes on the fish world - Come watch me grow.

[Heuristic]

Things are changing! This may be out of boredom from lack of fish, or the fact that there probably is going to be no better time(than the fallow) to pull everything out, throw them in to some brute garbage cans and then get to drilling! So, I got a few pieces in! I still need to get a return pump and then the Synergy overflow box before I start drilling




The mount I made for these lights isn't working quite as I planned. I think I am going to have to scour around home depot and see if there's something else that stands out to me. I need something more sturdy for them as they are not exactly very light.

[levi_patrick]

Originally Posted by Heuristic

Things are changing! This may be out of boredom from lack of fish, or the fact that there probably is going to be no better time(than the fallow) to pull everything out, throw them in to some brute garbage cans and then get to drilling! So, I got a few pieces in! I still need to get a return pump and then the Synergy overflow box before I start drilling




The mount I made for these lights isn't working quite as I planned. I think I am going to have to scour around home depot and see if there's something else that stands out to me. I need something more sturdy for them as they are not exactly very light.

I purchased the same light and struggled with the best way to mount it. I ended up using a 3" butterfly bolt in the ceiling, used black plastic coating 1mm bonsai wiring and ran that to the carabiner the light came with. It turned out looking nicer than I thought and seems sturdy. You're correct, this light is heavy!
I attached a picture of my setup.

[Heuristic]

The return pump just came in the mail. This thing couldn't have even be a 1/4" bigger and fit.

[Heuristic]

And... We are off.... getting the sand out of the bottom and in to a tub was not fun, but I think once I can successfully drill the holes tomorrow, I'll be much, MUCH more excited for this project. LOL

[Heuristic]

Saturday was the scary day, finally going to try and concur drilling my own glass :help:



One down, took WAY longer than I thought, but seemed easy enough



Success...


Now time to put it all back together


Synergy 16" Overflow on


Finished up the plumbing, was my first time doing something like that. Everything now up and running, just waiting for the dust to clear. No leaks most importantly.


As of last night... Got the lights up and the tank has cleared. Now I can go back in and finish the aquascape and cord management.



Now I need to figure out a better return. I wasn't sure what I wanted to use so I waited to see where I was at and then just used something I had laying around. I will be replacing that in the near future :blob:

Exactly 1 week before my fish can return in to the tank after the Ich :fish:

[Skynite]

Like your setup, the aquascaping looked awesome in your first setup. The last picture above, are you still aquascaping that? I'm also in Sacramento, Elk Grove to be specific. You mentioned you picked up the rocks local, where did you get it from? Do they have dry rock there?

thx

[Heuristic]

Originally Posted by Skynite

Like your setup, the aquascaping looked awesome in your first setup. The last picture above, are you still aquascaping that? I'm also in Sacramento, Elk Grove to be specific. You mentioned you picked up the rocks local, where did you get it from? Do they have dry rock there?

thx

Ya, I couldn't see a thing so I had to stop. That was picture I took just after the tank cleared so I could go back to work on the aquascape. I've since put it back up, but I think I may adjust it some more.

I got the live rock from Aqualife in Rocklin. They do have a decent amount of dry rock if I remember right. So far I've had really good experiences with them.

[Darthv247]

looking good. moving along at a smart pace actually the fallow may have saved u lots of money and time to keep learning before adding more critters.

Those are some real nice looking clown fish! The larger clown turns in to the female and that is why it killed the one its own size then paired up with the little guy.

[Darthv247]

another great fish to add would be a Royal Gramma. real ptetty fish with interesting behaviors. likes to swim.upside diwn under ledges and things. also real affordable and hardy fish. dunno how they do with fire fish though. fire fish can get bullied easily it seems.

[Heuristic]

Originally Posted by Darthv247

another great fish to add would be a Royal Gramma. real ptetty fish with interesting behaviors. likes to swim.upside diwn under ledges and things. also real affordable and hardy fish. dunno how they do with fire fish though. fire fish can get bullied easily it seems.

Sadly, the fire fish didn't survive the move/copper treatment. They were cool fish. Really liked watching them dart all over the tank during feeding time.

I've made a few more changes lately, including adding 2 additions

First, I went ahead and finally put something in my refugium part of my sump. Since I took this picture, I have moved the light placement and it now hits it much more directly.


I've been wanting a skunk cleaner and saw one that looked to be very active/healthy at the LFS so I decided to pick him up




And I also added this bluespotted watchman goby. I went in looking for a diamond watchman goby, but this guy caught my eye. For the most part it has been staying in it's cave, but I catch him out and about here and there. At night sometimes he can be seen flying all over the water column. Glad I have a tight fitting lid

[Heuristic]

Update
I've been having some GHA issues since disturbing the sand bed, so I actually went out and got some Margarita snails(5) and some Nassarius Snails(2) and they've been a great addition. I can see some of the damage that they've been doing on some of the uglier rocks as far as the GHA goes. They're constantly just sitting there working

Here is where the GHA is at now, it's getting there


The Skunk Cleaner Shrimp cleaning one of the snails. Been a great addition to the tank. Adds some entertainment.


Some pics of the clowns that have been there from the start






My Watchman is finally out a lot of the times now, but still pretty skittish. Here he is hiding in the corner

[Heuristic]

Went and got my first coral, an SPS Green Polpy Birdsnest(??). It seems like it's doing well, I've been told if it looks like a "saggy dog", it's happy.


I also went and picked up a one spot fox face that is now hanging out in QT




Not going to lie, the more comfortable he gets with me, the more he scares me. When I put the nori strip in, he now flies up to it without any fear of my hand. I'm still a little nervous about the spikes around him, LOL


As mentioned, I've been fighting that hair algae problem. I've notice I've got a macro algae growing pretty rapidly in my DT, may have to move this rock to the refugium.


The light I was using on my refugium was a certain house LED and I was not happy with it at all. It was creating a lot of cyano bacteria, so I went ahead and switched to this one that was recommended on many posts on this site


Hopefully this will now promote growth of the Chaeto and get with of the Cyano.

[Cancun]

Hi! Nice tank! I am following along too! Keep us all posted on your progress! ��

[Heuristic]

My one spot in QT eating like a pig, he will not miss a scrap no matter how much I put in there

[Heuristic]

I am unfortunate enough to drive by a reef store every day on my way home from work, so.... I picked up a hammer... It's about 1/4 of the size as it was when I bought it, it's still ****ED!!! shortly after the move.

[vikinglord13]

Did you get tonga nassarius snails? 2 isn't much if they are the small ones

[Heuristic]

Originally Posted by vikinglord13

Did you get tonga nassarius snails? 2 isn't much if they are the small ones

These snails are pretty big, the shell is over an inch, their bodies is over 2" probably.


Some bad cell phone pic updates:

Went and bought 5 chromis and immediately I noticed a red mark on one of them. I started treating them, but it was two late. I lost two of them to uronema. The remaining 3 have been healthy for a few days now with zero signs of symptoms.



The fox face has been added to the DT, he's doing great and any algae that I did have is quickly vanishing


Hammer is looking great


My latest addition a Rose Bubble Tip, I am hoping the clowns host it, but I won't hold my breath.

[hammond0]

I think the PVC will be too weak to hold much of a fixture. You could use t slot aluminum to build some hanger arms and attach them to the back of the stand. Just a thought!

[Heuristic]

Originally Posted by hammond0

I think the PVC will be too weak to hold much of a fixture. You could use t slot aluminum to build some hanger arms and attach them to the back of the stand. Just a thought!

It was, I built a stand out of metal conduit. It's been working great so far. I should have built it a little higher though, I can't exactly open the glass tops without hitting them, so whenever I have to do work on the tank I have to remove the glass

[Heuristic]

It's been awhile since I've updated anything(sheesh, almost a year ago)

Some stuff has changed since I last posted. I went from my own bent conduit as a light holder

to an TMS rail

to adding 2 AI Hydra TwentySix HD's



I had a ton of algae issues that basically made me not want to take pictures, but now the algae issues have mostly subsided, though there are still some patches that I am battling.


Some of my old coral is still recovering from all the damage that was caused to get to this point(basically starvation) but overall they're showing good growth



This stylophora had every polyp eaten off of it the first day I put it in the tank. The peppermint shrimp went to town on it. It was completely white and I almost tossed it. something in my decided to keep it in there in hopes that it'll grow back. It is returning nicely :banana:


This hammer likely needs to move down. I had my old lights so close to the tank that up high if it was off to the side wasn't in the direct light. This thing seems a little mad.


reverse superman monti

[Heuristic]

A few acro's I've added


This one is still acclimating so it's on the floor


Just fed Duncan and a bluespot


And on to the fish that all seem happy

[Heuristic]

[MyHouseIsAZoo]

Love the fish you have put in your tank! We are slowly working on a 75g build, so I'm stalking other 75s LOL. We just picked up a tank that we will build as a sump tank yesterday. We are waiting for some warmer weather before we attempt to drill for plumbing. Gotta love Michigan weather

[Heuristic]

Haha, I have come to the realization that I love builds so that's awesome! Be sure to post the progress! and ya, I can't say that I ever want to experience a winter outside of California... lol

[vikinglord13]

Enjoying the updates!